Matovic Claims Conspiracy Taking Place in House to Give MPs Raise
Bratislava, November 4 (TASR) – There is a conspiracy going in Parliament with an eye towards effecting a salary raise for lawmakers by 26 percent as of next year, claimed OLaNO-NOVA leader Igor Matovic on Friday.
According to Matovic, a tacit agreement between the coalition and the opposition was orchestrated by parliamentary chair Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS). “Don’t meddle with the law on MP salaries, and if you don’t, we won’t submit the traditional MP salary freeze that we used to do every year [since 2011 – ed.note],” the OLaNO-NOVA leader detailed the dynamics of the deal.
Matovic claimed that he had expected the coalition to come up with the initiative to freeze salaries this year as before. “It was only this week that I learned about this proposal by Andrej Danko: cease sabre-rattling, you opposition don’t draw attention to anything, and we won’t do anything about it,” he said, adding that as of January 2017 lawmaker salaries are thus to go up by 26 percent or €927 for legislators hailing from regions other than Bratislava.
According to Matovic, only Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) can put a stop to such a deal via a fast-tracked procedure. “Therefore, I call upon him to pass a fast-tracked procedure at the next Government session and submit a proposal for an MP salary freeze.”
Matovic intends to submit a copy of previous freeze motion drafts in Parliament himself. “I’ll submit the same proposal in order to put it into the legislative process, but seeing as two sessions must take place for that to happen and I’ll be likely kicked out of Parliament in the meantime, this motion of mine has little chance of getting the green light,” he claimed.
OLaNO-NOVA disapproves of any salary raise for MPs on the grounds that the Slovak national debt is growing, from €15.2 billion in 2006 to €41.3 billion in 2015, and most lawmakers don’t deserve more money for their inaction. “Some haven’t spoken a single word in Parliament over the eight months they’ve been there, and they’ve failed to submit a single bill or solution to help people. Basically, every one of them was given €3,000 monthly on average for nothing,” said Matovic.
Parliament’s Office press department head Zuzana Cizmarikova told TASR that parliamentary chair Andrej Danko won’t respond to Igor Matovic.
